Step 4: Budgeting

Now that you're familiar with the layout of the Budget page, it's time to start budgeting!

Manual budgeting

The simplest way to set a budget is to do it manually:

1. Find the category you want to budget for

2. Click on the cell in that row under 'Budgeted'

3. Type in the amount you want to budget

That's it! Once you set your budget, everything else will update automatically, including how much you have left to spend and how much is left to budget (or overbudgeted) overall.

Quick budget actions

Budgeting suggestions

When you type in a budget amount, Lunch Money will make helpful suggestions to speed things up. Clicking any suggestion will automatically set the budget to that value. Let’s go over what these could be:

1. Left to budget: Allocate all remaining unbudgeted money to this category. This will only show up if you have something left to budget—it won’t show if you are overbudgeted.

2. Zero out available: Budget the amount needed to bring this category’s Available balance to $0.

3. This period’s spend: Match what you’ve spent so far this period (Set to the amount matching the Activity column.)

4. Last period’s spend: Match what you spent in this category last period.

5. Avg spend last 3 periods: Use the average amount you spent over the last 3 periods.

6. Last period’s budgeted: Copy whatever you budgeted for this category last period.

7. Fixed amount/Fill to: Manual setting if you have this set up in budget presets

8. Total expected recurring: Use the sum of all recurring items expected for the period.

Budget Presets

Want to budget the same amounts each period? Budget Presets let you set up rules for categories with predictable spending (like rent or bills) so you don't have to type the same numbers every month.

How to set up Budget Presets

Click the arrow () at the end of a category row to see your options:

Similar to the budgeting suggestions you saw earlier, you will find the following options:

1. Set fixed amount: Always budget the exact same amount every period. For example, if you set rent to $1,500, it'll always budget $1,500.

2. Fill 'Available' up to a certain amount: Tops up your Available balance to reach a target amount. For example, if you set the 'Dining Out' target to $200 and you have $50 rolled over, the preset will budget $150 to reach $200.

3. Set to previous period's spend: Match what you spent in this category last period.

4. Set to previous period's budget: Use the same amount you budgeted for this category last period.

5. Set to average spend of last 3 periods: Use the average amount you spent over the last 3 periods.

6. Set to total expected recurring amount: Use the sum of all recurring items expected for the period.

7. Do nothing: Skip budget presets for this category

Applying Budget Presets

Once you've set up your preferred method for each category, click the "Apply Budget Presets" button on the right sidebar. The button only appears when you have valid presets configured.

You can also trigger individual presets by clicking the checkmark icon next to any category with a preset:

Copy Budget

Want to keep things really simple? You can quickly copy the same budget values from a previous period using the "Copy Budget" button. When you click on it, you'll see which eligible periods you can copy from:

How it works

Copy Budget copies category budgets from your selected period to the current period.

You can choose whether to overwrite your current budget values or keep what you've already set. For example, if you're setting up March and you've already budgeted $50 for 'Coffee' and $800 for 'Rent':

• If "Overwrite all" is not selected: Your $50 coffee and $800 rent stay put. Only empty categories get filled with February's values.

• If "Overwrite all" is selected: ALL your current budgets (including that $50 and $800) get replaced with February's values.

Clear This Period

Need a fresh start? Clicking "Clear This Period" will remove all income and expense amounts from the 'Expected' and 'Budgeted' columns for the current period.

Moving money between categories

Overspent in one category but have wiggle room in others? No worries!

Moving money between categories is a core part of flexible budgeting - it lets you adapt to real life without starting from scratch. This is especially useful for envelope and zero-based budgeting approaches.

Here's how to shift money between categories:

1. Click the exchange icon next to the Available balance for a given category.

2. Specify how much to move, from which category, and to which category. You may also choose to move money to or from the general pool (labeled as "Left to Budget").

This instantly adjusts both categories' budgets for the current period only. For example, if you move $100 from Entertainment to Dining Out, then Entertainment's budget decreases by $100 while Dining Out's increases by $100.

Available Balance Adjustments

Sometimes you need to reset your Available balances (the amounts that roll over between periods). This is called a balance adjustment.

When you create a balance adjustment, you're telling Lunch Money: "Start calculating the Available balance from this date forward with this new starting amount."

When to use a balance adjustment?

Here are some reasons you might reset:

• Switching from another budgeting app

• Major life changes (new job, marriage, moving)

• Fixing past mistakes or miscategorized expenses

• Starting fresh for seasonal spending (holiday gifts or spring home maintenance)

• Reconciling your actual spending with Lunch Money

• Aligning your budget with your actual bank balance (especially important for zero-based budgeters)

• Locking in current Available balances as a new starting point

How to use a balance adjustment?

For example, if your "Dining Out" category is at -$150 after a few months of overspending, you can reset it to $0 (or any amount you choose). Your past spending stays in your records, but the Available balance calculates from the new date forward.

Where does the money come from?

Balance adjustments don't move money from other categories - they create or remove money from your budgeting system. It's important to understand when to use each feature:

• Moving money between categories: Moves Available money between expense categories or general pool. Your Net Total Available stays the same - you're just shifting money around.

• Balance adjustments: Adds or removes money from your overall budget. Changes your Available balance and Net Total Available amount.

How to make balance adjustments

You can create starting balance and date adjustments for the following:

• General Pool - Set both starting balance and date

• Same-category rollovers - Set both starting balance and date

• General pool rollovers - Set date only (balance managed at pool level)

Lunch Money keeps a history of all adjustments while preserving your original data.

For individual categories:

1. In the Outflow table, click the arrow () to the right of any category

2. In the 'Edit Category' panel, scroll down to "Rollover Options"

3. Look for the "Reset Balance Amount" section:

   • For same-category rollovers: You'll see fields for both balance and date

   • For general pool rollovers: You'll only see the date field

4. Enter your new values and click "Reset" to save changes

For the general pool:

1. Click on

2. Find the "General Pool Rollover Setting" section

3. Under "Reset Balance Amount":

   • Enter your desired balance in "Reset Balance To"

   • Set your "Starting On" date

4. Click "Reset" (or "Start Rolling Over") to save changes

Lunch Money keeps a history of all adjustments - you'll see them listed under "Adjustments History" with an option to remove previous adjustments if needed.

What's Next?

You've been budgeting– now let's get some insights! In the next section, we'll explore some additional features to help you to get the most out of your budget! Let's go! 👇

Go to Step 5: Miscellaneous Features